The year 1905, a small hamlet in deepest rural Kent, a man brutally attacked at midnight in a meadow with his throat gruesomely cut from ear to ear and his skull bludgeoned, the body undiscovered for thirty hours, the community in shock and a band of newly arrived Algerian hawkers roaming the area intensify the drama. Who killed him in such a savage way and why?

Kent's celebrated detective Edwin Fowle determinedly leads the painstaking investigation and manhunt under national newspaper scrutiny. He is helped by a cast of real villagers as witnesses, who each hold a piece of the puzzle. A sensational false confession and a misdirected trial, add to the tension. What more could you want in a true murder mystery. Through exhaustive research and local knowledge the author has managed to piece together a compelling story of the murder through the eyes of all those who took part in the events. This captivating narrative is not a work of fiction but a chilling account of real events that unfolded in this tranquil corner of Kent.